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REPORT 


OF THE 
Commission on the Relation 
of the 
North American Young 
Men’s Christian Associations 
to the Foreign Work 


AS AMENDED AND UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED BY THE 
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION MEETING AT 
CLEVELAND, OHIO, MAY 12-16, 1916 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2021 with funding from _ 
Columbia University Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/reportofcommissi00comm_ 1 0 


REPORT IN OUTLINE 


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z.. Why There'ls a' Foreign Works 2) si vie cele ole 
2. The Present Outreach and Further Require- 

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‘3. Summary of the Task Immediately Ahead.... 


II. RECRUITING AND TRAINING OF ADEQUATE SECRETARIAL 
LEADERSHIP FOR THE FOREIGN FIELD............. 
1. Number, Nationality, and Distribution of the 
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2. Educational Training of the Foreign Secretaries 
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3. Secretarial Training and Experience of Foreign 
Secretaries Prior to Appointment........... 

4. The Part of the North American Associations 
in the Training of Secretaries for Appoint- 

ment to: the Foreign Field. 0. ik aisle vals 

5. Training in North America of Native Secretaries 
6. The Use of the Furlough of Foreign Secretaries 
for Recuperation and to Promote Adequate 
Secretaria Craiming use eo wu amcntls 

7. The Intellectual Training of the Secretary after 
He Reaches the Foreign Field.....:....... 

8. The Problem of Maintaining and Increasing 
the Spiritual Power of the Secretary on the 
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IV. Tue ATTITUDE AND OBLIGATION OF THE NortTH AMERI- 
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REPORT! OF THE COMMISSION ON THE RELATION 
OF THE NORTH AMERICAN YOUNG MEN’S 
CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS TO THE 
FOREIGN WORK 


As amended and unanimously adopted by the International Convention 
meeting at Cleveland, Ohio, May 12-16, 1916. 


This Commission, originally appointed by the Conference of 
Employed Officers of North America, meeting in June, 1914, 
presented a tentative report of its study and findings at the Em- 
ployed Officers’ Conference of 1915 at Asilomar, California. By 
vote of the Conference, the Commission was continued and 
authorized to accept the invitation of the Committee on Inter- 
national Convention to present its report and findings to this 
Convention. 

The Commission has held several meetings and has assigned 
to each member a definite line of study and investigation, as 
follows: 


I. Survey and Occupation—E. T. Colton. 
II. Recruiting and Training of Adequate Secretarial Leadership 
for the Foreign Field—Robert E. Lewis. 
III. Administrative Policy—E. W. Hearne. 
IV. The Attitude and Obligation of the North American Asso- 
ciations—A. G. Studer and J. W. Hopkins. 


V. Conclusion. 


The report as a whole, including findings and recommendations, 
represents the united study and unanimous conclusions of the 


Commission as a whole. 
L. WiLBuR MEssErR, Chairman. 


*The form here presented for general use by foreign work committees 
is abridged in respect to detail only. The structure and language are 
unchanged. The complete report is obtainable upon application to the 
Foreign Department of the International Committee. 


5 





Occupation 
Subject to 
Call of 
Missionaries 


VA I. SURVEY AND OCCUPATION 


1. Wuy THERE Is A FoREIGN Work: 


The foreign work of the North American Young Men’s Chris- 
tian Associations is not a self-appointed task. The undertaking 
was initiated by missionaries on the field. In 1884 Dr. Frank K. 
Sanders, then a teacher in Jaffna College, Ceylon, concerned for 
the religious life of his students, drew on his own student experi- 
ence and organized a college Christian Association. His con- 
temporary, Mr. Harlan P. Beach, teaching in Tungchow College, 
North China, acting independently, was likewise moved and 
adopted the same course for identical reasons. A third missionary 
took similar measures in Foochow. In 1888 the united missionary 
body of Madras, India, sent a formal petition to the International 
Committee, at that time without any foreign department, policy 
or vision, asking for a trained Association secretary to be pro- 
vided for their city, to make available there the specialized ex- 
perience of the city Young Men’s Christian Association in reach- 
ing certain influential classes hitherto aloof and without points 
of contact with the existing missionary agencies on the field. 
After extended debate the International Convention, sitting in 
Philadelphia, from sense of duty to the Church as represented by 
the petitioning body, voted in favor of commissioning such a 
worker in Mr. David McConaughy. 

In 1899 the Tokyo missionaries asked for the services of an 
Association secretary, which request was favorably responded to 
the next year by the appointment of the second foreign repre- 
sentative of the International Committee. Meanwhile the Inter- 
national Committee authorized Mr. Luther D. Wishard to make 
a thorough tour of investigation lasting over three years to guide 
them as to their future policy. His report led the Committee to 
proceed with more assurance, yet with conservatism. The rule 
adopted and consistently adhered to was to station representa- 
tives only in those countries where the missionaries with una- 
nimity invited and urged such cooperation. Calls unsought have 
come from the missionaries in increasing numbers with the years. 
It has been impossible to respond favorably to all because of the 
insufficient resources of men and money, yet the sincerity and 
grounds for the appeals have laid a growing sense of obligation 
upon the constituency and leadership of the home Associations. 

6 


The language of some of these calls is impressive and charac- 
teristic: 


“The Lucknow Missionary Conference begs to urge the 
National Council of the India Young Men’s Christian Association 
to appoint a secretary for this fifth city of the Indian Empire. 
Lucknow invites, or rather, demands the work of such an organ- 
ization as the Young Men’s Christian Association.” 

“T have been appointed by the Conference of the Turkey Mis- 
sion and Cilician Union of Churches to call your attention to Ain- 
tab as a center of work for the Young Men’s Christian Associa- 
tion. We are convinced that a secretary of American origin and 
special training is absolutely necessary.” 

“As a body of laborers on whom has been laid the duty of 
preparing the way of Jesus Christ in this great plain and adjoin- 
ing hill regions, we now earnestly ask you to come over and 
take your stand beside us and thus multiply at once the direction 
and the fruits of the toil. We urge the Young Men’s Christian 
Association to undertake a task which, while of the greatest 
importance in our eyes, has become impracticable for the Church. 
Is Manchuria to be gained or lost? The answer may depend 
upon the response to our present fervent appeal.’’—The Mission- 
aries of Manchuria. 


“Resolved, To request the International Committee of Young 
Men’s Christian Associations, of New York, to send out more 
secretaries for the work among Brazilian young men, particularly 
secretaries for the work among students in the large cultured 
centers of Rio, Sao Paulo, Pernambuco, Bahia and Porto Alegre.” 
—General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, 1910. 


Large tasks have been assigned to this Movement by missionary 
bodies acting together and with an authority that part of the 
brotherhood at least has recognized we must accept in loyalty to 
the Church. . . . The signers of the petitions on file with our 
Foreign Committee represent practically all the leading missionary 
societies, among them the American Baptist Mission, American 
Board Mission, American Church Mission, Canadian Methodist 
Mission, Church Missionary Society, London Missionary Society, 
Methodist Episcopal Mission, Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, Presbyterian Board of the United States, Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel, Swedish Missionary Society and Wes- 
leyan Mission. In certain fields missionaries are initiating organ- 
ization more rapidly than the judgment of the representatives of 
the International Committee approves. In the faith that God 
has been making known His will through His servants the mis- 


7 


Character- 
istic Calls 


India 


Turkey 


Manchuria 


Brazil 


Petitioners 
Represent 
All Leading 
Church 
Societies 


Di sions 
of Task 


Principles 
Governing 
Response 

to Calls 


Number of 
Men Needed 
and Supplied 


sionaries, and confirmed in this by the parallel calls from other 
well informed groups in these lands, and by the evidences of His 
favor in results attained, the home Associations have given of 
their ablest leadership and of their financial resources in order 


to follow leadings clearly providential. 


2. THE PRESENT OUTREACH AND FurTHER REQUIREMENTS 
ANALYZED: 


The extent of this outreach has already exceeded the faith of 
its founders, while the demand for further help and cooperation 
continues. Among the proper subjects of inquiry by your Com- 
mission, therefore, are these: What are the dimensions of the 
entire task abroad confronting the North American Associa- 
tions? How far have they progressed in its performance? The 
answers will be formulated under the following heads: Employed 
Officers; Buildings and Other Equipment; Promotion, Intensive 
Development and Supervision on the Field; Home Adminis- 
tration. 

a. Employed Officers. Observance of fixed principles in the 
allocation of foreign secretaries operates to keep the ultimate 
number required within measurable proportions. First, response 
is made only to calls from cities that dominate in their influence 
a country or province or other large section of it, the objective 
being not to perform Association service for or among these 
populations; but rather to found Associations at enough bases to 
establish the Movement and rear it nationally to the indigenous 
state. It is the method by which the Movement on this con- 
tinent propagated itself from Montreal, Boston, New York, 
Chicago, San Francisco and other cities of the first class. Second, 
the foreign executive secretaries, both local and national, are 
given a primary commission to raise up colleagues of the race to 
which they are sent and to transfer initiative and responsibility to 
these, themselves to become dispensable. Third, few of the 
specializing agents are being asked for or sent from North 
America, such as secretaries for work among boys or in the rural 
regions. More physical directors are sought, but they are for 
the larger part supported on the field. Most of the specialists 
who are sent will have national relationships and be expected to 
concentrate their attention on applying and demonstrating prin- 
ciples, and on the recruiting and training of native specialists. 

There are now in the field, in nineteen countries related to the 

8 


North American brotherhood, a foreign staff of 174, of whom 
fifteen are supported locally. The British and Norwegian Move- 
ments maintain several others not here enumerated. A survey 
of the several fields now occupied by foreign secretaries on the 
basis of the principles just stated, discovers a present aggregate 
need for two hundred, or possibly a few more men, who will 
be dependent for support for many years upon North America. 
Another hundred will probably be called out and supported 
from Great Britain, the Continent, Australasia and South Africa. 
Other North Americans will be required, but, as in the fifteen 
cases already cited, they will receive their support on the field. 
Among the unreckonable variants in any estimate are the effect 
of the present war upon the vision and resources of the nations 
engaged, the opening up of areas now deadlocked te all mission- 
ary effort, and most of all by the rise or recession of the national 
spirit in the several fields. Japan has already reached nearly to 
the maximum of foreign secretaries required or desired. 

The average cost of maintaining a foreign secretary in the 
earlier stages of the work abroad was $2,000 for a married man 
and very few have been single. This amount has risen with the 
cost of living all over the world. It will go higher rather than 
lower with the families increasing in size and age. Twenty-five 
hundred dollars annually per family is now almost the exact 
average required to cover initial household equipment, salaries, 
children’s allowances, medical attendance, furloughs and travel 
over a period of years. Two hundred men, therefore, cannot be 
maintained for less than $500,000 annually. 

b. Buildings and Other Equipment. To take the measure of 
this part of our task is probably more of an adventure. Contem- 
plation of these larger sums involved confronts the investigator 
at once with the inquiry: “How soon will the’spirit of Christian 
philanthropy be communicated to the possessors of the wealth 
of the nations now seeking Association help from Canada and the 
United States?” The practice covering the Foreign Department’s 
gifts toward buildings is that an amount equivalent to the cost of 
the site shall be secured locally. In some cities this ratio has 
been much exceeded already. One million eight hundred and 
forty-six thousand one hundred and fifty dollars have been re- 
mitted for buildings up to the close of 1915, with an amount not 
much less than $1,000,000 subscribed or in hand for other pro- 
jects. This total of approximately $2,500,000 provides thirty- 


9 


Cost of Staff 
of Two 
Hundred 


Building 
Funds Ex- 
pended and 
Needed 


Policy of 
Local Self- 
Support 


Forms 

of Work 
Requiring 
Subsidies 


three major cities and twenty-five secondary ones with what may 
be regarded as modest equipment. In several the provision is 
quite adequate. A few cities have more than one building. The 
early ones are now more or less outgrown. A score of additional 
small hostels or dormitories are in operation or under construc- 
tion, also a few owned residences for secretaries. The goal of 
the building program must be to help provide enough local build- 
ings, national headquarters, athletic fields, summer camps and 
other training facilities to demonstrate to the several peoples 
served the utility of the modern Young Men’s Christian Associa- 
tion in upbuilding the whole life of the nations’ boyhood and 
manhood. Enough appeals are now before the Foreign Depart- 
ment, approved by the respective National Committees and the 
Foreign Committee itself to employ $500,000 per year for the 
next ten years, exclusive of gifts made on the field. This is 
about the rate of constructions for the past three years and 
would be in no sense excessive. Even this program would 
repress many calls of real merit. 

c. Promotion, Supervision and Intensive Development on the 
Field. A policy of local self-support has marked consistently the 
expanding foreign work. North America has never engaged to 
do more than provide a field with a limited foreign staff financed 
from the home base. Provision for Association rentals, fuel, 
light, salaries of the native employed staff and foreign specialists 
are understood to be local responsibilities. As an example, the 
outlay of $9,000 for North American secretaries in Buenos Aires 
by the Foreign Committee is matched by a local current budget 
of $41,000 gold. The aggregate budgets raised in the foreign 
fields now exceed by nearly $100,000 the total sum remitted by 
North America for the support of our representatives sent out 
to serve them. 

There remain for consideration, however, important accessories 
to solid growth and legitimate extension which, in the interest 
of lasting success and ultimate economy, must be maintained in 
part from the Home Base, for a period. Among these are (1) 
certain expenses of the National Committee headquarters, such 
as stenographic and clerical help sufficient to release the foreign 
national secretaries for the functions they are sent out to per- 
form; (2) Association national organs—it took North America 
fifty years to bring ours to complete self-support; (3) Bible 
courses and other Christian literature—the Spanish and Portu- 

10 


guese languages afford scarcely a book on modern apologetics 
for the educated classes; (4) secretarial training schools, summer 
schools and partial scholarships for promising secretarial can- 
didates. The 1916 grants for these purposes amount to about 
$40,000 a year. Rich returns would immediately follow the 
use of twice that sum annually in these ways. By the time the 
staff reaches its maximum it is believed $100,000 a year may be 
a wise expenditure of money for such vital means to the ends 
of our enterprise. Left to themselves, they will be the last to 
develop indigenously. To do without them would be crippling 
to the several young national movements which confront tasks 
of full grown organizations instead of those arrived at by a slow 
process of evolution. 

d. Home Administration. We come now to the cost of home 
administration. The present overhead charge on current and 
building operations and special funds is about five per cent. With 
a secretarial budget of $500,000, an annual building program of 
like extent, and yearly expenditures of $100,000 for national 
supervision, literature, secretarial training, etc., the charge for 
home administration would be $55,000 to $60,000. 


3. SUMMARY OF THE Task IMMEDIATELY AHEAD: 


For each of the 200 foreign secretaries to be supported from 
North America, at a cost of $2,500 annually, a supplementary 
fund of $750 per man will be required. Of this amount, $500 
will be devoted to making his service abroad most effective in 
achieving and abiding character, as described under section c 
preceding; and $250 to cover the cost of home administration. 
The maximum annual grand total for the entire undertaking, 
including buildings ($500,000), therefore, may be expected to 
reach $1,150,000. 


II. RECRUITING AND TRAINING OF ADEQUATE SECRE- 
TARIAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE FOREIGN FIELD 


This report is based upon correspondence which the Com- 
mission has conducted not only with the Foreign Department 
of the International Committee but with 122 secretaries in various 
places in the foreign field who have frankly expressed their minds 
to the Commission. 

II 


Cost of 
Home Ad- 
ministration 


Aggregate 
Financial 
Needs 


Sources of 
Information 


I. NUMBER, NATIONALITY, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE FOREIGN 


SECRETARIES: 
Personnel The number of secretaries under appointment by the Foreign 
pr Paicien ti Department of the International Committee at the close of 1915 
Staff was 174, distributed by nationalities as follows: 
HAAMEFICANS Julien SUAleM aie aoe piatael oh oe 140 
Cana digne |i ip iote acl) Aeon, mee ieias 17 
HOCUSh Vie 0 ae te ee 8 
Scotch 3 ca baer hess eee 72 
CTeTMNAN a yota eval ce ene ieee 2 
SWISS oe Sk « LER ee eR R eee 2 
Dutel 8 i ache AA eet, ee I 
Danish xy chose ee Cee I 
Trish besien tine euler eee ae eee nee I 
LOtal  TLUrOpeantn sym nee pkey ae 17 
stand tOtal Mek see eee ing eet ee ee 174 


These men are located in connection with the Association 
movement as follows: 


ASIA: 


CEYION lane eee ee sie ome I 
CHING TUG Gaiters git nite 73 
Hongkone porte wanes: 2 
India Riel eae eee 44 


LaTin AMERICA: 


Aypentina don vines sien stele 
Brazil icin Leow ehuineee ce 


Porto (Rico. see es 
South American Fed.... 


4 
7 
I 
A 
MEXICO Cee es aint ei ok 4 
2 
2 
WripuayGea ect eet I 


AFRICA: 
ESV) sation valdtes deat eele se ri 


EuROPE AND THE NEAR EAST: 


Porttigalite seni «3 sca I 
‘Ee UPKey Te eerie dens es 6 
Near Hastecva. sid eek: 2 


ROtOMU Aaa nid held oc ieodtre ais a 9 
Grang, totale ns tenure cca gene eats 174 


In addition, a group of men is supported in Russia by Mr. 
James A. Stokes. Their work is of the Association type, con- 
ducted under the name of “Miyak” or Lighthouse. 


2. EDUCATIONAL TRAINING OF THE FOREIGN SECRETARIES PRIOR 
To APPOINTMENT: 


Of the 174 men under appointment by the Foreign Depart- 
ment, 153 are college graduates. This is a very much larger 
proportion of college-bred men than in the home secretaryship. 

Of the 21 men under appointment in foreign fields who are not 
college graduates, many are physical directors or office secre- 
taries who have secured special professional training instead of 
a college course. Of the total number of appointees to the foreign 
field, 53 have had post-graduate study of at least one year in 
accredited colleges. Many others have taken part-year courses, 
and 19 have received the degree of M.A., 5 M.S., 5 M.D., 8 B.D., 
1 M.Th., and 2 Ph.D.; a total of 40 have acquired post-graduate 
degrees. All of this points to the serious-mindedness with which 
both the Foreign Department and the men themselves consider 
educational training for this important service. The boards of 
directors and older secretaries in the home field who illustrate and 
interpret standards herein find an example which can be followed 
in the home secretaryship. It appears to the Commission, how- 
ever, that there is still a great need for vocational guidance of 
men during their college training. .. . 

We might literally multiply instances, but careful perusal 
of these reports from 122 men actually at work on the 
foreign field indicates that very few of them are satisfied with the 
courses of study which they pursued while undergraduates, in 
view of the fields to which they have been providentially led and 


13 


Educational 
Preparation 
of Foreign 

Secretaries 


A Consensus 
of Judgment 


Recom- 
mendation 
Number One 


Need 

for Men 
With City 
Training 


the life work which is open before them. On the whole this 
correspondence revealed a general need for special emphasis on 
biblical, apologetic, sociological and pedagogical subjects. 


THEREFORE THIS COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that the Foreign 
Department of the International Committee be requested to co- 
operate with the Board of Missionary Preparation of the Con- 
ference of Mission Boards of North America, through the visits 
of traveling college secretaries (both state and international), the 
summer schools, the secretaries of the Student Volunteer Move- 
ment and the representatives of the Fellowship Movement, to 
call to the attention of students those combinations of studies in 
colleges which will most certainly prepare men for Christian 
work in different foreign lands either under regular Boards of 
Missions or under the Foreign Department—this to be under- 
taken as a step in the conservation of leadership. 


3. SECRETARIAL TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE OF FOREIGN SECRE- 
TARIES PRIOR TO APPOINTMENT: 


The correspondence with the men in the foreign field brings 
vividly to the attention of the Commission that a large proportion 
of the foreign secretaries had before appointment very slight if 
any experience as executives in the City Associations of North 
America. There are some who were city executives. There are 
quite a number who had temporary experience (a few weeks or 
months of observation) at one or more cities, but the number of 
men who demonstrated their fitness in the city field in America 
is relatively small. There are some conspicuous exceptions to 
this rule, such as the former general secretaries at Dayton, 
Topeka, St. Joseph, and Duluth, who resigned their positions 
here to take appointment in the foreign field. A large number 
of the appointees have been called from the college secretaryship. 
A good many held college traveling secretarial posts. The 
development of this work abroad has shown the city type to be 
most generally applicable even for reaching students effectively, 
particularly those of government classification. The Interna- 
tional Committee now says that for the most part secretaries 
appointed to the foreign field will function institutionally; that 
is, through the city type of Young Men’s Christian Associations 
to be established and conducted in the great educational and 
commercial centers of the foreign field. 

Considering the type of work which experience has shown is 
most necessary and practicable; considering the lack of experience 


14 


and training on the part of many of the men in charge of this 
work; in consideration of the eagerness of these men for such 
training had they known in advance that it would be necessary ; 
because of the interchange of positions among the members of 
the small staff in any given country in the foreign field; and con- 
sidering the great emphasis which is now being placed upon such 
training by the Foreign Department ; 

THEREFORE THIS COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that the Associa- 
tions of North America cooperate with the International Com- 
mittee in selecting, training and releasing annually from the men 
in executive and assistant secretarial posts those who, in addition 
to their educational qualifications, have demonstrated their capac- 


ity for executive leadership in the Association work in the home 
field. 


4. THE Part oF THE NorTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS IN THE 
TRAINING OF SECRETARIES FOR APPOINTMENT TO THE 
ForEIGN FIELD: 


The Foreign Department of the International Committee ad- 
vises us that 96 of the 174 men appointed to the Foreign Field 
“have had City Association training of one year or more before 
going out.” 

The letters from the secretaries on the foreign field, in explain- 
ing what this training was, indicate that many of them did not 
hold positions of executive responsibility. The Foreign Depart- 
ment is “now very reluctant to appoint a man without at least 
one year in a City Association; recognizing that much of the 
Student Work is necessarily done by the application or modifica- 
tion of City Association methods; that the discipline of it is 
valuable for a man in any form of work; that circumstances may 
place a man in a City field, whereas he may have been considered 
primarily as a Student secretary; and that men going to the field 
for City work must be familiar with the fundamental principles 
of the Association Movement and trained in executive tasks. 
Other considerations being equal, the Committee would seek men 
who have secured City training as regular employed officers on 
a staff of some local Association.” 

In order for the North American Associations to serve this 
purpose in an adequate manner, it will be necessary for the 
general secretaries in many conspicuous Associations to definitely 
and unselfishly take on their staff college men who, after they have 
reached executive efficiency in the local work, will be released for 


~ 


15 


Recom- 
mendation 
Number Two 


Emphasis on 
Successful 
City 
Experience 


Place and 
Duty of 
Local 
Association 
in Training 
Foreign 
Secretaries 


Fellowships 
and 
Training 
Colleges 


Recom- 
mendation 
Number 
Three 


Native 
Secretariat 
Ultimate 
Test of 
Strength 


Recom- 
mendation 
Number 
Four 


appointment to the foreign field. Many of us will have to reverse 
our policy in this matter, for it is well known that many general 
secretaries are reluctant to thus release men upon whom they 
have spent several years of coaching and training and to release 
them just at the time when they become really productive in 
executive relationships. But this is a call to concerted, unselfish 
service, and the Commission appeals to the North American Asso- 
ciations to respond adequately to the opportunity. 

As a method of inducting men into this sort of training, we 
believe the Fellowship plan has great advantages where men 
have not had the preliminary training of an Association college 
or of the student secretaryship, and in many cases where they 
had such training. The Foreign Department believes that a 
graduate of an Association college is very much better equipped 
Associationally than a college graduate without such a course, 
but it is the belief of the Foreign Department that “even a 
graduate of the training school should have one or more years of 
actual secretarial experience in a local Association” prior to 
appointment abroad. 


We THEREFORE RECOMMEND, That this Convention, by reso- 
lution, impress upon boards of directors and general secretaries 
the great desirability of providing highly trained men in the city 
field for appointment abroad; and that City and Rural Associa- 
tions be expected to take upon their staff men whom they are 
deliberately training for such appointment upon their demonstra- 
tion of fitness. 


5. TRAINING IN NortH AMERICA OF NATIVE SECRETARIES: 


This Commission calls to the particular attention of the Con- 
vention that the strength of the Association movement abroad 
very largely depends upon the quality, training and numbers of 
the native secretariat. One of the chief functions of the men 
whom we send abroad is the selection and training of native 
secretaries. Their success in this particular has been notable, 
yet they need our help. We believe that the North American 
Associations should have an active part to play in giving advanced 
training and experience to increasing numbers of secretaries who 
come here for a period of one or two years. 


WE THEREFORE RECOMMEND, That many of our Associations 
provide fellowships and that the Association Colleges provide 
scholarships for the training of native secretaries who come to 

16 


this country upon the approval of the National Committee in the 
country of their service, confirmed by the Foreign Department of 
the International Committee; it being understood that only such 
men as have completed their scholastic education and demon- 
strated their fitness for the secretarial calling will be so recom- 
mended for advanced training in this country. 


6. Ture Use oF THE FuRLOUGH oF FOREIGN SECRETARIES FOR 
RECUPERATION AND TO PROMOTE ADEQUATE SECRETARIAL 
TRAINING: 


During the years 1906-15, inclusive, 48 different foreign secre- 
taries have been granted furloughs and 7 of these have had more 
than one. There were in all 55 furloughs during this period, a 
total of 751 months or an average furlough of 14 months. Of the 
48 different men referred to, at least 4 have returned to America 
solely because of health conditions. 

Of these 48 different men, Io took up postgraduate study in 
institutions of higher learning. The Foreign Department is not 
able to say how many pursued their work to the point of securing 
“credits,” but no doubt they employed their time to good advan- 
tage. Of the 48 men who returned from the foreign field for 
furlough, 4 took up continuous work for a period in connection 
with a City Association, but none of them carried such work 
forward for 8 months or more in executive relations. . . . 

We might quote practically uniform testimony at great length 
from the experience of the secretaries from the foreign field, in 
which the administrative officers of the Foreign Department 
fully and entirely concur. 

The correspondence which your Commission has had with 
every country in which our foreign work is carried on reveals 
the fact that the furlough is not only looked forward to with 
pleasure, but that it is ofttimes looked back to with more or less 
of misgiving. Until recently there has been no constructive plan 
for relating secretaries on furlough to City Associations for 
executive experience. Many of them have toured and visited, 
but in such tours or visitation their minds have apparently been 
preoccupied with the pressing claims of the work to which they 
have given their lives, and they have not been able to familiarize 
themselves with the method, plan and principles of the up-to-date 
practice in America. 

We find that scientists working in the Orient and practitioners 
of medicine feel it is necessary to spend months in hospitals or 


17 


Use of 
Furloughs 


Necessary 
Uses of 
Furlough 


Policy 
Regarding 
Visitation of 
Associations 


Thorough- 

going Health 
Examination 
and Regimen 


Recom- 
mendation 
Number Five 


postgraduate institutions “bringing themselves up to date” in this 
country or Europe. 

The demands and recurring crises in financing the work of the 
Foreign Department have been such that most of the men upon 
furloughs with good public address have been of necessity drafted 
into the service. This Commission believes that such men on 
furlough are able to render a very valuable service to the Com- 
mittee and to the Associations, but this is not considered by the 
Committee to be the chief factor in the use of the furlough time. 
As a rule, each secretary will be expected to devote from one to 
four months of his furlough in cultivation work. 

Furthermore, family visitation and itineration amongst the 
Associations may not provide the best method of recuperation, 
any more than it provides an adequate method of bringing our 
secretaries from abroad in touch with the advance movement of 
the North American Associations. We are pleased to know that 
the International Committee recently has entered into an arrange- 
ment with the Mayo Brothers’ Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, so 
that all secretaries and their wives returning from the foreign 
field in debilitated health will receive the advantages of a com- 
plete examination, and it is to be hoped that the Foreign Depart- 
ment as well as the medical examiners will lay out a “Health 
Regimen,” not only to apply to those who must go under doctors’ 
care, but also for the guidance of those who, while not suffering 
from chronic diseases, should be assisted to use the furlough for 
“body building” purposes and who might well be freed as families 
from the distraction incident to fourteen months of life in this 
country without home, furniture, and conveniences—and largely 
in the hands of well-meaning relatives. 


WE THEREFORE RECOMMEND: 

(a) That the Foreign Department receive the support of the 
Associations in meeting the expense involved in a scientific study 
of the needs and use of the furlough, and the coaching and 
training of its furloughed men; and 

(b) That the Associations of North America offer, through the 
Foreign Department, to the secretaries returning upon furlough, 
their facilities for training, and where foreign secretaries are 
assigned for a period of six to eight months, that such Associa- 
tions agree to provide for them diversified training, personal 
coaching, a study of community needs, of social and religious 
movements, and vocational training to the largest extent within 
their capacity. 

18 


7. THE INTELLECTUAL TRAINING OF THE SECRETARY AFTER HE 
REACHES THE FOREIGN FIELD: 


Thus far the Foreign Department of the International Com- 
mittee “has not attempted to provide means of intellectual growth 


for secretaries on the field in addition to language study. Libraries f 


have been established in certain countries with funds raised by 
the Committee, but there is no plan for continuous supervision 
of personal intellectual growth in so far as the initiative and 
responsibility rests with the Foreign Committee. Certain national 
and smaller groups are undertaking to stimulate and guide their 
members in reading and other forms of investigation and 
stud yi di 

It is perfectly clear that such efforts as have been made 
by secretarial leaders in the foreign field to keep in touch with 
the intellectual growth of the age have not been satisfactory to 
themselves. 

It is not surprising that this keen group of isolated men, even 
though overburdened, in some cases almost crushed with respon- 
sibility, thirsts for intellectual sympathy and leadership. 


We THEREFORE RECOMMEND that the Foreign Department, 
after consulting with the National Committees in the foreign field, 
prepare the way for: 

(a) Several optional courses of reading annually revised— 
historical, social, Associational, and Biblical. 

(b) Recommended Standard-Reading-Correspondence Courses 
which may be followed under the direction of universities in 
America. 

(c) Correspondence courses which might be taken in certain 
subjects in conjunction with one or more of the Association 
Colleges. 

(d) If the above are not available or adequate, that the Foreign 
Department consider the establishing, after full investigation, 
of correspondence courses in charge of an employed officer who 
would devote himself to the conservation and growth of the men 
now in secretarial positions who may desire to take advantage of 
such systematized guidance. 

(e) That the International Committee prepare a syllabus to be 
used by foreign secretaries in coordinating, filing, card-cataloging 
and systematizing the results of study, reading and observation, 
together with an efficiency outline of library and office method 
and equipment. 


19 


Present 
Means 
Provided 


or 
Intellectual 
Growth 


Recom- 
mendation 
Number Six 


Distinguish- 
ing Function 
of the 
Foreign 
Secretary 


Foes of 
Spirituality 


8. THE PRoBLEM OF MAINTAINING AND INCREASING THE SPIRIT- 
UAL POWER OF THE SECRETARY ON THE FOREIGN FIELD: 


One of the obvious distinctions of our foreign work is that it is 
not conducted for the purpose of managing “missions” in the 
Oriental cities and seats of learning. Our distinctive purpose is 
to found and develop self-supporting, native-led Young Men’s 
Christian Associations and national organizations of such Asso- 
ciations, indigenous rather than exotic. This fundamental prin- 
ciple requires a radical modification of the function of the 
American secretary. In America he is the manager, the executive. 
In the Orient and South America the managerial or executive 
relation must be entrusted to the native, and the American must 
assume a position of adviser or counsellor. This is a dignified 
post, but its function is in many particulars distinct from that of 
the executive and requires peculiar adaptation and spiritual quali- 
fications. 

The gruelling years devoted to the study of the most difficult 
languages of the world form another barrier which the secretary 
in America has very little appreciation of—a barrier to imme- 
diate work, to understanding of one’s duties, relationships, possi- 
bilities and environment. In most positions, after the preliminary 
years abroad have been spent in acquisition of the language, there 
is possibility that the physical strength will have become reduced, 
and that the secretary in the meantime will have become rusty 
in regard to Association practice and polity. He will also, unless 
extraordinary efforts are put forth, have become isolated, and, 
to use a common expression, the spiritual fires will have been 
“banked” awaiting a time when adequate expression of human 
leadership and counsel would again revive them. The dulling 
effect of heathenism, the black tide of sin as it ebbs and flows 
about the foreign secretary, apparently for a time uninfluenced 
by his presence, may have a profound influence upon his own life. 

Bishop McDowell quotes President Tucker of Dartmouth as 
saying: “Next to the tragedy of sin is the tragedy of early loss 
of power in men’s lives.” Says Bishop McDowell: “I am con- 
cerned about you today, but I am more concerned about what 
you are going to be twenty-five years from now when your early 
enthusiasm has burned out. Too many men have lost the spring 
of life and are going about simply ‘wearing out their shoes,’ to 
use Emerson’s words.’ Bishop McDowell says this in relation to 

20 


Christian workers in a Christian land. If the problem is a serious 
one here, men must be considered superhuman to be entirely free 
from it abroad. 

Let us now turn to constructive suggestions which men make 
as to how this terrible problem may be met and solved. We are 
quite astonished at the similarity of the scores of letters which 
the Commission has received. In honesty we cannot ignore them. 
We secretaries in the home field will be drawn to these men, for 
their problem is dangerously and continuously ours... . 

The Commission is impressed with the fact that these honest 
statements from our representatives in the foreign field will have 
a profound reaction upon ourselves. If men who have accom- 
plished what they have accomplished with slender resources, the 
isolation, the gigantic difficulties and the lack of cooperation, 
have found the spiritual struggle what they clearly reveal it to 
be, this Commission can do nothing less than to present the 
following conclusions: 


WE THEREFORE RECOMMEND: 

(a) That this Convention consider ways and means of bringing 
the leadership of the North American Associations themselves, 
both lay and secretarial, into more vital spiritual union with the 
personnel and problems of the work abroad; and 

(b) That it be suggested to the International Committee that 
they recommend secretaries on furlough to those home Associa- 
tions for training and to those colleges and universities for post- 
graduate study where there will be the largest opportunities for 
spiritual development; and 

(c) That after suitable preparation, the International Com- 
mittee be requested to formulate a reasonable program which 
can be submitted through the various national committees and 
national conferences of secretaries abroad, whereby men in iso- 
lated posts will be assisted in securing the most helpful devotional 
publications, year after year, and will be assisted into helpful 
spiritual relations, not only to bridge periods of isolation, but 
also to cover those long periods of comparative inaction while 
men are acquiring the native languages, as well as to prevent 
that serious overwork which comes from undermanned stations; 
and 

(d) Resolved that the International Committee be requested 
to lay before each succeeding Convention its various problems, 
not only in regard to financial support but particularly in regard 
to the selection, training and conservation of the secretarial 
leadership for the world field, with the definite intention that the 
conscience of the Associations shall make this the brotherhood’s 
work in increasing measure, rather than primarily the work of 
its Committee. 

21 


Facing the 
Personal 
Problem 


Recom- 
mendation 
Number 
Seven 





A Thorgughly 
Representa- 
tive, ody 


Budget 
Divisions 


/ III. ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY 


1. THE FoREIGN COMMITTEE. 


The Commission has made a most careful investigation regard- 
ing the general and financial administration of the Foreign De- 
partment of the International Committee. Of the sixteen 
members of the Committee making up the Foreign Department 
Committee eleven have traveled widely in foreign lands and sev- 
eral have spent long periods in residence on the foreign field. 
All of the Committee members render real service in counsel and 
active cooperation, many of them giving a large amount of time. 
As it has been expressed, they are men of the “international 
mind,” including lawyers, bankers and financiers and men promi- 
nent in government service. Several of them are also members 
of Church Mission Boards. 


2. THE BUDGET. 


The department’s budget consists of three parts: estimated 
expenditures for maintaining secretaries on the field; appropria- 
tions for special work in foreign lands and toward inter-mission 
board projects in North America; home administration and 
cultivation. The total in 1915 amounted to $461,878.25. 

(a) The general procedure regarding salaries and allowances 
is based on the fundamental principle that the Committee must 
support its workers abroad. A national general secretary and a 
local secretary are on the same scale of support. The standard 
salary allowance begins at $1,100 the first year for a married man 
and $725 the first year for a single man. There is a scale of 
increase that might eventually reach $1,500 for a married man 
and $1,000 for a single man. Wherever all Mission Boards 
recognize that there is a substantial difference in the cost of 
living, corresponding modification has been made in this scale. 
An allowance of from $100 to $200 is made for each child in the 
family, graded according to age. Grants are also provided for 
doctor’s fees, one-half the dental fees, medicine, vacation, house 
rent, traveling expenses, and language teacher. Through this 
plan an equitable support is given, notwithstanding the ‘varying 
conditions and cost of living in different lands. These budgets 
are made up from the most careful statements furnished from 
the field, checked through the national offices and finally reviewed, 

22 


amended, and approved by the Foreign Committee. The amount 
expended on account of secretaries on the field for the entire 
year 1915 totaled $349,520.80. There was an additional ex- 
penditure of $31,187.48 for new secretaries sent out in I9QI5. 

(b) The second section of the budget provides for a few 
interboard activities in which our foreign work organization must 
take its share along with similar societies; small grants for the 
widows and minor children of deceased foreign secretaries; 
appropriations toward recruiting and training native secretaries ; 
certain national committee expenses for literature; and similar 
projects. The total of all these items for the year 1915 was 
$30,709.38. 

(c) The budget for home administration has the usual items 
of salaries of secretaries and their traveling expenses; office 
expenses, such as stenographers, clerks, literature, printing, post- 
age, telegrams, and cables; and one which the Committee is 
obliged to meet,—$1,185.69 for interest. The 1915 administrative 
expenditures were $50,460.59. 


3. THE BuiILpInG Funp. 


Another distinct account is kept of building funds. These had 
their beginning in 1893. Up to the close of 1915 the total sum 
disbursed on foreign building accounts was $1,845,371.05. Sixty- 
two buildings are represented in this outlay, either acquired, built, 
or under construction. During this period there has been raised 
on the foreign field, chiefly by contributions of citizens and gov- 
ernments, an additional amount of approximately $500,000. The 
amount to be appropriated in 1916 for buildings is about $400,000, 
already in hand or covered by reliable pledges. The records of 
all matters relating to gifts and buildings are kept according to 
the modern standards of efficiency. 

The Foreign Committee in prescribing the form of tenure for 
buildings erected with money raised in North America aims to 
safeguard the purpose of the donors in providing these funds 
both for land and for buildings. .. . 


4. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE. 


Your Commission has taken up with many Mission Boards the 
proportionate cost of home administration and cultivation. A 
pamphlet recently issued by the American Baptist Foreign Mis- 


23 


Subsidies 
and Miscel- 
laneous 


Home Ad- 
ministration 


Extent and 
Method of 
Building 

Operations 


Relative 
Cost of 
Adminis- 
tration 


sionary Society discusses this question at great length and illus- 
trates why the range is all the way from 6% per cent up to 
15 per cent. In some cases no charge is made for office rental 
and similar expense; in other cases the Church organization fur- 
nishes much of the general administration promotion through 
church officers who are salaried and whose traveling expenses are 
paid from other funds. However, if the expense for home 
administration be taken on the basis of the 1915 budget, including 
the building account and War Fund of $211,716.77 and other 
special funds of 1915—$66,451.23—the percentage for home ad- 
ministration is 5.503. The Foreign Department, it should be 
noted, deals personally with each of its representatives and never 
through special treasuries organized on the field. Much of 
personal purchasing, care of insurance and other items add to 
the cost of accounting. 

Relative to the item of expense for administration, it is pointed 
out that the entire investment would be well worth while purely 
as a matter of inspiration and spiritual value to the members, 
and, for this reason alone, apart from the large possibilities of 
financial return, every Association should have its share in the 
general budget. The development of individuals in knowledge 
and interest has frequently been productive of surprising gifts 
from members and friends and has had a thoroughly helpful 
reaction in relation to the missionary work of the Churches where 
these members give their allegiance. 


a 


5. SOURCES OF INCOME. 


Contgipt- Approximately one-third of the regular budget of the year 
re fd comes from a group of large givers who are investing on account 


of the intelligent grasp they have of the work as a result of the 
careful effort the Committee has put forth so many years to 
keep them informed; one-third comes directly from the associa- 
tions; and another third from individuals more or less definitely 
related to Associations, who have been enlisted in giving mainly 
by the several representatives of the Foreign Department, in co- 
operation, wherever possible, with local Associations; and from 
fields where there are no Associations. The first division men- 
tioned is the most stable, because the best informed, most re- 
sourceful and most thoroughly committed to the cause. The 
gifts collected and remitted by the Associations have steadily 


24 


risen from $120,276.57 in 1911 to $168,684 in 1915, and afford a 
field for much further development, as shown later in this report. 
The last division mentioned—that given by individuals—repre- 
sents contributors of from $500 to $5,000 or more each. The 
alert efforts of employed officers everywhere, in cooperation with 
the Foreign Department, would yield from this source alone the 
necessary support for entering the great open doors. 


6. PRESENT WEAKNESSES. 


Some Associations have shown a tendency to continue support Defects 

on the scale of providing the salary of one man, at $1,200 to er 
$2,000, when, by proper effort, two or more men could be main- Support 
tained. Other Associations undertake a share so small as to be 
without appeal to either large givers or the members as a whole, 
thus inviting failure at the beginning. Less than one-half of the 
total from Associations comes in during the first two-thirds of the 
year. On December 31st, 1915, only twenty-eight of the con- 
tributing Associations had completed their payments for that 
fiscal year. The books were held open twelve days to receive 
belated remittances from Associations, amounting to $42,054.72. 
The Foreign Department overdraft begins early in the new year, 
as men in distant fields are paid bi-monthly, that they may never 
be embarrassed, nor the work suffer through lack of prompt 
support. The interest item represents the support of an un- 
married secretary. By careful foresight and cooperation this 
could be eliminated entirely. Experience is proving that most 
subscribers to the local foreign work fund will pay either in cash 
or within thirty or sixty days. The practice of early and short- 
term subscriptions promoted by the foreign work committees is 
a sure and practicable solution. 


7, APPRAISAL. 


The Commission takes pleasure in bringing to you the assur- Quality 
ance that our Association foreign work is faithfully and economic- ena 
ally administered. The Commission has the utmost confidence in 
the officers of the Foreign Department who have facilitated its 


work in every possible way. 


WE THEREFORE RECOMMEND: Recom- 
(a) That for the immediate future the sending out and sup- mendation 


porting of 200 foreign secretaries be considered a reasonable ene 


25 


Who Is 
Responsible? 


Method of 
Gathering 
Information 


Gifts from 
Associations 
Answering 


and practicable program for the Foreign Department, and should 
be carried out as soon as the men and funds are available; and 

(b) That for the immediate future the Associations of North 
America give their earnest support in providing an annual budget 
of at least $600,000, and an annual expenditure for foreign build- 
ings of at least $500,000. 


IV. THE ATTITUDE AND OBLIGATION OF THE NORTH 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS 


1. Marin LINEs oF INQUIRY: 


The challenge of the foreign field and a study of those forces 
best calculated to meet the urgency of the need abroad neces- 
sitates a consideration of the attitude and obligation of the North 
American Associations as a factor in promoting a world program. 
Does responsibility for the propagation and extension of the 
work of the Young Men’s Christian Association in the foreign 
field fall upon the local Associations of North America? If so, to 
what extent is that responsibility recognized and accepted? 


2. THE QUESTIONNAIRE: 


To gather information that would enable the Commission to 
make a comprehensive and correct interpretation of the situation 
a questionnaire was prepared and put before the local Associa- 
tions, 0p 


3. ANALYSIS OF REPLIES: 


Of the 400 inquiries made, replies were received from 161, and 
were so evenly distributed as to be considered fairly representative 
of the whole field.. Of the 161 Associations from which replies 
were received, ninety-nine were contributing to the foreign work 
—eighty-two were not. Of the 161 Associations replying, 153 re- 
ported an aggregate membership of 181,624 and a total annual 
current expense budget of $5,922,593, or an average cost per 
member per year of $33. 

Ninety-nine of the 153 Associations just mentioned reported an 
aggregate sum raised for foreign work of $181,417, which, if 
reckoned on the basis of the total membership in the 153 Asso- 
ciations, represents approximately the nominal and much over- 
worked one dollar per member. 

26 


An analysis of the sources from which the above sum was 
received revealed the fact that a little less than one-third was 
raised from the senior membership of the local Association; 
one-half per cent from the boys and about two-thirds from 
individuals. Thus are we able to draw this very interesting 
deduction, that for every $33 expended on local current expenses 
the membership of the local Association contributes thirty-three 
cents toward the work in the foreign field. 

It was found that among the ninety-nine Associations reporting 
foreign budgets, there has been during the past five years a goodly 
increasein the amount raised by both Associations and individuals, 
the former increasing from $26,865 in 1910 to $41,989 in 1914, 
or an increase of 56 per cent; the latter increasing from $47,332 
in 1910 to $129,893 in 1914, or an increase of 174 per cent. In 
the year 1910 there was contributed by Associations and individ- 
uals $74,197, and in 1914 $171,182, or an increase of 131 per cent 
in the five years. To realize this result the reports received would 
indicate that at the most not more than ten per cent of the active 
membership are reported in the list of contributors to the foreign 
work. 

An additional fund of information bearing on the foreign work 
program of the local Associations was made available through 
the foreign department of the International Committee and illus- 
trates the limited extent to which our local Associations are re- 
sponding to the foreign work appeal. Of the more than 2,000 
Associations on the North American Continent barely 300 con- 
tribute, including branches, students, county and railroad units. 
Gifts were received last year from 76 unorganized points. During 
1915 these two groups yielded for the regular budget as follows: 


Hrom:( the) Associations. .'y)s/5\02 oy « ees $174,307.78 
PORT CIVICUAIS OR Ou sa se wel ais, 4a 258,545.80 
Ota peyencina th Wsiateaaoinietice ears ks $432,853.58 


Further than this from these same constituencies special gifts 
were received during the same period for the following objects: 


POteiony DUNGINOIN ess saa tates. Fass « ’.. $76,219.86 
WiOrk Min tthonyVarnZonee rei y ies alae « 222,935.50 
ther Special bunds isch asta bale by 23,027.55 

COTA vaca at iade ote RY NAA als dis gs $322,182.91 


This makes a grand total of $755,036.49. If all the Associa- 
27 


Receipts 
from All 
Associations 


One 
Hundred 
Carry the 
Load 


Credit 
and Re- 
sponsibility 


tions had given proportionately, the financing of our foreign work 
development would be solved. Only 107 organized points con- 
tributed $500 or more each in 1915. Their gifts amounted to 
ninety-eight per cent of the total coming from Associations and 
individuals for all objects. Nineteen reached the $1,200 figure; 
seventeen, $2,000; seven, $3,000; six, $4,000; five, $5,000; six, 
$7,500; nine, $10,000; three, $20,000; one, $25,000; one, $35,000; 
one, $85,000; one, $90,000. Manifestly, the foreign work has 
been the serious concern of but a fraction of the brotherhood, 
representing, however, the most efficient and best managed types. 

Passing on to that phase of our inquiry having to do with the 
local administrative policy—in answer to the question, Is your 
Association credited with the amount contributed by individuals 
directly to the Foreign Department of the International Com- 
mittee ?—forty-one answered yes, fifty-nine no. If not so credited, 
do you favor such a policy? Seventy-three said yes, twenty-eight 
no. The desire of the Foreign Department is to work in com- 
plete cooperation with the local Associations in the securing of 
funds for the foreign work, to furnish full information to the local 
authorities concerning all gifts so secured, and to give credit to the 
local Associations for all amounts thus given. 

Does your Association guarantee a stated amount for foreign 
work? Forty-five said yes, fifty-five said no. Eighty-nine stated 
that the amount raised was applied directly toward the support of 
a representative, eight contributed to the general fund only. 
Seventy-nine Associations stated that the responsibility for the 
foreign work budget was not assumed by the board of directors, 
while sixteen answered in the affirmative. As to who carried the 
responsibility, twenty-three said it was the local foreign work 
committee, six the religious work committee, four the general 
secretary, one the boys’ department, one the membership, one the 
International Committee, two individuals. 

As to the method of determining the amount of the foreign 
work budget—one accepts the general secretary’s recommenda- 
tion; one the foreign work committee fixed the amount; one on 
the basis of 10 per cent of the budget; one “do the best we can”; 
one on the basis of $1 per member; the great majority said they 
had no method of determining the amount to be raised for this 
purpose. One said it had never been brought to the attention 
of the Association. 

In answer to the question—do you obtain direct information 

28 


from your representative ?—seventy-one replied yes ; ten no; three 
depended on the International Committee for material; one ac- 
knowledged there had been indifference about it. 

The inquiry as to the form of foreign work organization 
reveals a chief seat of weakness accounting for the halting, 
meagre support forthcoming from the bulk of the Associations. 
Ten confessed to no organization; two had sub-committees of the 
religious work committee; ten reported committees of from five 
to seventy-two members; seven had twenty-four-hour-a-day clubs 
made up of contributors to the foreign work. Not only the 
absence in many instances of any form of organization, but the 
variety of methods employed bears testimony to the lack of any 
adopted plan of committee organization which proved adequate. 

As to the methods employed in promoting intelligent interest 
in foreign work—sixty-three distributed literature; fifty-six had 
lectures; fifteen debates and discussions; forty-seven public din- 
ners; fifty-two emphasized prayer. Other methods suggested 
were the publishing of representatives’ reports in newspapers; 
reports sent to contributors; mission study clubs; “Foreign Mail” 
sent to subscribers; a missionary exhibit in the lobby, including 
clock, maps, etc.; visits of strong men from foreign work depart- 
ment ; and illustrated lectures by the International Committee. 

Many and varied were the plans suggested for raising the 
foreign work budget: forty-three favored the short campaign, 
one opposed; eleven favored a spring campaign, eight a fall 
canvass; one advocated January and four December, while one 
Association considered one time as good as another to secure the 
budget. A goodly number gave assurance that they would gladly 
abandon their present plan if an approved method could be 
suggested. 

The majority of the Associations reported that the development 
of a foreign work constituency had tended to increase the con- 
tributions to the local Association; four Associations stated that 
the opposite had been true; and five had been unable to notice any 
difference. In almost every instance the development of a foreign 
work policy had greatly strengthened the religious life of the 
Association. 

Some reasons assigned for not contributing to foreign work 
were: four said—never been put up to us; too many home 
demands; indebtedness too heavy; failure to educate leaders; 
never tried to do anything; cannot assume further responsibility. 


29 


State 
of Organiza- 
tion 


Educational 
Methods 


Effects on 
Giving to 
Local Work 


Why Some 
Do Not 
Participate 


Recom- 
mendation 
Number 
Nine 


Asked to suggest an alternative for meeting the financial need 
of the foreign work, in the event of your Association failing to 
assume its proportionate share of the responsibility, a large num- 
ber admitted no alternative but to face the responsibility and do 
our duty. One said, don’t know; one, must not fail;—have for- 
eign cities shoulder more of the burden ;—put foreign work on 
budget percentage basis, while some requested that their respon- 
sibility be more clearly defined. 


4. DEDUCTION: 

This statement but summarized the information brought to- 
gether as a result of our inquiry. It reveals clearly that many of 
the local Associations have not been gripped by any responsibility 
for the financial success of the foreign work, nor have they as 
yet experienced the richness of the blessing that comes in being 
directly linked up with the great world program of the brother- 
hood. 


We therefore recommend: 


(a) That the North American Associations recognize and 
hereby declare that the obligation for the foreign work program 
rests primarily upon our Associations, and that each Associa- 
tion annually, through its board of directors, should adopt an 
adequate foreign work program. 


(b) That the foreign work program of an Association should 
include: 


(1) A representative foreign work committee ; 

(2) A foreign work club or organization composed of contributors, 
with a leading Christian layman as chairman; 

(3) A member of the employed staff directly responsible for promoting 
the foreign work program; 

(4) An adequate educational policy ; 

(5) An effective plan for enlisting intercession; 

(6) A definite, financial objective which shall be covered by individual 
subscriptions, if possible not later than June 1 of each year; the amount 
of the subscriptions to be forwarded to the International Committee, 
preferably early in the year, or in monthly payments; 

(7) Provision for special attention to representative visitors and 
students from foreign nations who may be located in our cities, witha 
view to acquainting such men with the equipment, activities, and program 
of the Associations; and also, to promoting fellowship between them and 
our members. 


(c) That the executive employed officers at once endeavor to 
secure the adoption of this program for foreign work by the re- 
spective Associations. 

(d) That the various State organizations in the United States 
and the National Council in Canada formulate and promote a 
foreign work program which shall make available to all Associa- 


30 


tions the vision, method, and motive for participation in foreign 
work. 

(e) That local Associations avail themselves of the experience 
and leadership of the supervisory committees, through coopera- 
tive endeavor, to educate and enlist an adequate financial con- 
stituency. 


V. CONCLUSION 


In conclusion, your Commission calls the particular attention 
of the Convention to the body of facts contained in the Inter- 
national Committee’s Report of the Foreign Department under 
the title “Three Years’ Progress,’ and the program for develop- 
ment which they there recommend. 

We recommend: 


That, in view of the magnitude and urgency of the situation 
confronting the North American Associations in the non-Chris- 
tian world, and the grave dangers which will result from a failure 
to seize and to press the present unprecedented opportunity, steps 
should be taken by the Foreign Department of the International 
Committee to organize and carry through in the near future a 
comprehensive forward movement to augment greatly the re- 
sources of this part of our common work, and that the entire 
Brotherhood be called upon to support such an adequate policy 
of advance in all ways within their power. 

That the International Committee be authorized to appoint a 
Cooperating Commission representing the Brotherhood at large 
for the purpose of determining upon ways and means to achieve 
this objective, and that the present commission be made the 
nucleus of the new commission called for in this recommendation. 


3I1 


Recom- 
mendation 
Number 
Ten 


APPENDIX 


Action taken by the Student Section of the International Con- 
vention at Cleveland, 1916. 

In consideration of the facts of progress, opportunity and im- 
mediate need, respecting the foreign work of the North American 
Young Men’s Christian Associations; and because it so vitally 
concerns reaching for Christ and the Church the students of for- 
eign lands; and in view of the inter-denominational character of 
state and other non-denominational institutions of higher learning 
in North America, it is recommended and urged upon the local 
Associations of these institutions, that the students and faculties 
be promptly enlisted in substantial and dependable support of the 
foreign work. In addition, we believe that the students of the 
respective denominations should contribute to the denominational 
missionary enterprises through the local churches of which they 
are members or regular attendants. 

We recommend that denominational colleges continue to be 
held as fields for financial cultivation by their respective mis- 
sionary boards. It is taken for granted that all boards will respect 
existing financial obligations which have been entered into by the 
students of any institutions with respect to work they have under- 
taken on the field through another board, denominational or inter- 
denominational. 

To the end that all students may be forming the habit of liberal 
and intelligent missionary giving, the secretaries of the Student 
Department are requested, personally and through state and local 
leaders, to promote among the student Associations this form 
of stewardship along the lines here indicated and approved by the 
joint conference of North American Foreign Mission Boards. 


Additional copies of this edition of the report may be secured by 
addressing the Foreign Department of the International Committee, 
124 East 28th Street, New York. $5.00 per hundred, $1.00 per dozen, 
ten cents per copy. 


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